One of the most common questions my seller clients ask me before we list their home for sale:
What can I do to get my home ready to hit the market?
The answer to this question can be summed up in 2 words: prepare and listen.
Optimizing the marketability, and therefore maximizing sale price, of your home is all about presenting the best possible product and eliminating any anticipated objections or problems. There are no two better ways to to get your home ready to sell than by preparation, and heeding the advice of your trusted advisors.
Know what to do and how to go about the entire process of managing or selling your property. from this site.
Step 1 – Prepare
In the case you want to sell your house fast always make sure its not in bad condition. By “poor performance” means selling for less than it’s worth by not preparing to maximize the value of your home. Our goal is to flip the script and sell it for MORE than you would otherwise obtain by preparing your home well. There are two facets of this preparation.
Prepare aesthetically
First impressions matter. Hugely.
How a property shows, and portrays itself online through pictures, videos, and other marketing is perhaps the single most crucial variable in selling in today’s market.
Why?
Your home needs to appeal to buyers who will likely buy the home. What those buyers want may differ greatly from how you currently live (whether it’s layout, room usage, decor, etc). People do not want to see how YOU live, but rather, how THEY could live.
This perspective shift from “YOUR” house to “MY” house in a buyer’s mind is the key to maximizing value. It happens mostly subconsciously but there are methods designed to bring about this shift that you must utilize.
Even if you still live in the home you’re about to sell, “de-cluttering”, re-arranging, and staging are basic tricks to position your property well for better pricing, you can try these out and experience the effects of this simple presentation both in person and online to start that shift.
Maybe you could care less about that smaller 2nd bedroom looking like a bedroom, because you use it as an office, and your guests stay on the pullout couch in the living room. However, if buyers can’t see that it functions as a sufficient bedroom they may dismiss the room as too small. Something simple like this can become a black mark on their buyer psyche. To overcome it, in this example, you may need to get a smaller desk for the room and a decent sized bed for the room (hint: a raised inflatable aero bed dressed with quality bedding make can excellent stand ins for a real bed at a fraction of the cost), to show the dual functionality of a guest room/office. Remember, most buyers have no vision, and cannot conceptualize what they cannot see. This means you must prove what you already know, and show them!
You’ve heard it before: Show, don’t tell.
Also be prepared to make small cosmetic improvements to eliminate buyer objections. We all grow accustomed to little idiosyncrasies in our homes. The chipped paint, the loose door handle, etc. These are all minor things, but taken together they can have major impact on how people digest a property. Enough of these little defects and buyers can develop a BIG negative perception of your home. For a few hundred dollars in touch ups, handyman hours can eliminate as many of these little defects as possible BEFORE coming on market. Cordless impact wrench for lug nuts may become a perfect solution for minor defects.
Unlike some other listing agents who may tell you they will get your home on market they same day you sign the listing agreement, my listing process starts with walking you through these aesthetic preparations FIRST, when it is most effective.
Prepare logistically
This is especially important for condos (the majority of our sales here in Boston), but applies almost as much to single family and multi-family homes. And since planning is the first & foremost step, studying and analysing from the most successful builders, like Perth luxury home builders Seacrest, proves to be very beneficial.
Work with brokers such as Chamberlain Real Estate Brokers and your condo association’s trustees and/or management company to collect and assemble ALL the information on your property or your individual unit, the building, and the condo association.
Benefits of Air Conditioning
- Livable Environment. Air conditioning allowed people to live in hot desert regions of the country in comfort for the first time. Areas like Phoenix and Tucson suddenly flourished as new residents moved in to take advantage of the warm, sunny climate, knowing their homes could be maintained at a comfortable level regardless of the exterior temperature. (Many residents of Michiana feel the same way.)
- Health Benefits. Hot, unfiltered air can exacerbate respiratory problems, allergies, heat-induced stress, sinus problems and limited mobility. People who suffer from these conditions find filtered cold air alleviates their discomfort and allergy symptoms. Excessive heat can be harmful. In extreme instances, people may suffer heat exhaustion or heat stroke. For people with heart problems or other serious medical conditions, a cool environment may be essential.
Cooling system filters block allergens, dust and other particulates in the air. Over long periods, stress wears down resistance to air-born nuisances. Long-term air conditioning use helps end annual illness cycles, get the best deals for ac installation for Hawaii homes.
- Reduce Humidity. Humidity, which is the amount of water in the air, can cause as much discomfort as high temperatures. Excessive humidity causes us to sweat, and because the air is supersaturated with moisture, sweat doesn’t evaporate. Evaporation is one of the body’s most important mechanisms for maintaining thermal equilibrium. When it’s inhibited, we’re left with sticky wet clothes, bad tempers and lethargy.
Air conditioning works by removing the water from the air and depositing it outside, leaving only dry, cool air to flow into the building interior. You could say an air conditioner does your sweating for you.
- Provides Comfort. Often irritability and fatigue are caused by excessive periods of extreme heat or cold. These mood swings are often accompanied by headaches, colds, coughing and other minor but irritating conditions.
Excessive heat or cold causes the body to expend energy in an attempt to maintain the proper internal temperature. Without air conditioning to control air temperature and humidity in your living or work space, humans use more energy, which might cause them to feel lethargic. If you’re sweating excessively, you might also suffer from dehydration.
Key elements to collect:
- condo rules & regulations
- condo master deed
- floor plans
- record of any repairs & upgrades (both the building and the unit)
- condo associations records – budget & expense reports, meeting minutes
- proof of funds in association reserve account
- maintenance records for things like HVAC systems
- energy and utility bills
All of these items do three things:
One, by collecting all this information prior to going active on market, you and your agent can decipher if the building will be perceived as “healthy” by potential buyers financially and physically. Then you have the opportunity up front to correct anything their might be issues with.
Two, it allows you to be as transparent as possible with buyers, which builds some credibility & trust in the transaction that you’re not hiding things to help make a buyer comfortable making their best offer. Knowing about any physical problems or pending assessments up front is far more palatable for a buyer, versus springing it on them at the 11th hour of a negotiation, or even worse, after you have accepted an offer. Every home and building has issues to deal with (even brand new construction). The key is being up front and communicating properly to mitigate the surprise to buyers and, therefore, cost to you. For condos, seeing properly budgeted operations, well funded reserves, etc. are all also very important to put buyers at ease and make a condo as easily finance-able as possible.
Thirdly, it gives you the opportunity to differentiate your home from all the others on the market. By showing how prepared you are with this information, it allows me as a listing agent to promote your home as proactively maintained and well cared for: “Mr. Buyer, can you really say the same thing about that similar home down the street?”
Buyer’s peace of mind equals dollars in your pocket as a seller.
Stay tuned for Step 2 of this series about listening….not just to your trusted team of advisors, but to the market as well…
Source: https://www.jccayer.com/
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